This class is composed of 19 students - 6 females and 13 males. 18 of the 19 students are juniors and one student is a senior. This is a College Prep chemistry course, which is the level between Success Academy and Honors. This class meets first period every other day.
Learner Map
Reflections
1. Describe key trends that you discovered for this class?
A lot of my students are athletes or are involved in other after-school activities. A lot of them also have after-school jobs. In this class, the students have similar learning styles - the majority of students enjoy working in groups, doing hands-on activities, and learning through doing examples as a class and then practicing on their own.
2. Describe the needs, interests, and characteristics of your learners that surprised you.
Until I had my students fill out this survey I thought that Bruce was very lazy and apathetic about chemistry. After reading his survey and talking to him a little bit, I discovered that he has a really hard time reading and writing and he often doesn't get his work done because of the reading - not because he's lazy. He is very bright. I know now that when I give students an assignment, I should read the instructions out loud so I can accommodate Bruce without making him feel singled out. When students are working on practice worksheets, I am more aware of making sure Bruce knows what he should be doing.
3. How will these characteristics affect the way you plan, teach, and manage this class?
With the knowledge that I have accumulated about my students, I will be able to tailor my lessons to this specific class. Since i know most students prefer doing hands-on activities and group work, I can incorporate more labs that support the concepts they learn through lectures. I also realize that many of my students have after school commitments such as work and sports, so I will keep that in mind when assigning homework. Instead of assigning a lot of practice problems each night, I will try to choose a variety of problems that highlight the most important types for them to practice. I believe that homework is important, but excessive homework does not necessarily mean better learning. Now that I know more about my students' time commitments, I can prepare better, more effective homework assignments. You have accumulated a lot of information about each student. How has this knowledge influenced your planning? Is this class one that you're struggling with? If not, have you tried to get to know these students using your survey? - fogleman
This is not for the class I have been having trouble with, but I do plan on having the students in that class fill out the survey when they complete their test (which they will be taking on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I look forward to learning more about them because I am hoping it will help me understand them better and thus make the class run more smoothly.
Course: CP Chem (11th grade)
Description
This class is composed of 19 students - 6 females and 13 males. 18 of the 19 students are juniors and one student is a senior. This is a College Prep chemistry course, which is the level between Success Academy and Honors. This class meets first period every other day.
Learner Map
Reflections
1. Describe key trends that you discovered for this class?
A lot of my students are athletes or are involved in other after-school activities. A lot of them also have after-school jobs. In this class, the students have similar learning styles - the majority of students enjoy working in groups, doing hands-on activities, and learning through doing examples as a class and then practicing on their own.
2. Describe the needs, interests, and characteristics of your learners that surprised you.
Until I had my students fill out this survey I thought that Bruce was very lazy and apathetic about chemistry. After reading his survey and talking to him a little bit, I discovered that he has a really hard time reading and writing and he often doesn't get his work done because of the reading - not because he's lazy. He is very bright. I know now that when I give students an assignment, I should read the instructions out loud so I can accommodate Bruce without making him feel singled out. When students are working on practice worksheets, I am more aware of making sure Bruce knows what he should be doing.
3. How will these characteristics affect the way you plan, teach, and manage this class?
With the knowledge that I have accumulated about my students, I will be able to tailor my lessons to this specific class. Since i know most students prefer doing hands-on activities and group work, I can incorporate more labs that support the concepts they learn through lectures. I also realize that many of my students have after school commitments such as work and sports, so I will keep that in mind when assigning homework. Instead of assigning a lot of practice problems each night, I will try to choose a variety of problems that highlight the most important types for them to practice. I believe that homework is important, but excessive homework does not necessarily mean better learning. Now that I know more about my students' time commitments, I can prepare better, more effective homework assignments.
You have accumulated a lot of information about each student. How has this knowledge influenced your planning? Is this class one that you're struggling with? If not, have you tried to get to know these students using your survey? -
This is not for the class I have been having trouble with, but I do plan on having the students in that class fill out the survey when they complete their test (which they will be taking on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I look forward to learning more about them because I am hoping it will help me understand them better and thus make the class run more smoothly.